Sooke Talks Trash on April 17 at the Community Hall

“How can local residents, local businesses and local government work together to transform the Sooke region into a model Zero Waste community?”

That’s the burning question Zero Waste Sooke’s Open Space Symposium will address on Sunday, April 17 from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Sooke Community Hall.

Everyone in town is welcome to attend and share their thoughts about how Sooke can better manage its local waste. Zero Waste Canada’s Buddy Boyd will give a keynote speech and join the conversation. ZWS is issuing an open invitation to all in Sooke and will extend special invitations to local waste-disposal operators as well as District of Sooke staff and council members.

Participants will determine the subjects for discussion in an open process, however the topics could likely include:

creating jobs from waste recovery

our need for local compost and yard-waste facilities

cracking down on littering and illegal dumping

banning-the-plastic-bag campaign

regularly scheduled “repair cafes”

creation of a “free store” (where one person’s junk is another’s treasure)

Growing rapidly in Canada and internationally, “Zero Waste” is a movement calling for the redesign of production, distribution and disposal systems so that waste as a concept is eliminated. Garbage is transformed into a resource that creates employment by being recovered and repurposed rather than sent to landfills. There is no waste in nature.

Sooke’s Tony and Christiana St-Pierre will facilitate this Open Space event. By day’s end the participants will know which community driven initiatives have real support and the next steps to take. A report on the day’s work will be presented to the District of Sooke and circulated widely in order to galvanize action. Learn more about Open Space methods.

Prior to the Open Space, Buddy will share his experiences with Gibsons Recycling Depot, a renowned Sunshine Coast “resource recovery depot.” Buddy was impressed with local disposal and recycling options in Sooke when he toured them last year, however there are job-creation opportunities for new initiatives to keep throwaways out of landfill sites – including a free store, styrofoam processing and glass recycling. “There’s nothing I’ve discovered in the discard stream that can’t be reused, repaired, reclaimed or turned into something else,” he says.

The citizen’s initiative is a working group affiliated with Transition Sooke. Our first-year activities included roadside clean-ups, public education efforts and a trash-busting blitz of the forest behind Evergreen Mall now slated as home for Sooke’s new library.

The event is free of charge and includes a lunch provided by ZWS volunteers. Potluck contributions are welcome.

Guaranteed: Neither the ideas generated nor the food served will go to waste!